A Lancashire mum is inviting others to join her in a nine-mile walk in aid of Royal Preston Hospital, which helped to save her daughter’s life.

Last year's walk

Lynsey Cotton will walk from The Knowles Arms pub in Blackburn to the Fulwood hospital with a small team of fund-raisers, on Saturday September 22
Her daughter, Katie, was born at 26-and-a-half weeks in 2012, weighing 2lb 3oz, and spent three months in intensive care at Royal Preston Hospital.

Now Katie is a healthy six-year-old, Lynsey, 41, has never forgotten the support she received there and has dedicated her spare time to raising funds for the intensive care unit.
The mother-of-three, from Blackburn, said: “Katie was born at 26-and-a-half weeks and had chronic lung disease.
“Katie was also anaemic and she needed a blood transfusion. She was very lucky.
“It was such a traumatic time and not nice at all.
“Katie is fine now and I am forever grateful for the hospital’s support. I have been fund-raising ever since and will continue to help other families at the hospital. I have an auction page on Facebook, selling clothes and toys and all the money from that goes towards gifts for father’s day, mother’s day, Easter and Christmas. I can’t make things right for the parents, but I can try to make a person feel a bit better.
“The staff do a fantastic job and I want to show my support.”

Lynsey is now asking for others to join in the walk, which sets off from The Knowles Arms pub in Blackburn, at 10am on September 22.
Money will also go towards Burnley Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.
She added: “It is a really fun walk and brings everyone together to raise awareness. You will meet lots of nice friends doing this and it will help make such a difference to parents of children at hospital.”